acrylic on birch plywood
48 X 48 in.
2016
"In 2016 I painted this large work on a heavy piece of Russian Birch plywood. I stained the grain as a good simulation of Jupiter's cloudy atmosphere. In the foreground is the moon Io. Molten lava covers Io's surface, Huge eruptions from dozens of active volcanoes reach past the atmosphere. My painting is based on a close up photograph of the moon by a passing NASA vehicle. Many Astrophysicists nick-name Io the rotten orange or the pizza.
Discovered in 1610 by Galileo Galilei Jupiter’s moon Io was named after the mythological character Io, a priestess of Hera who became one of Zeus's lovers. With over 400 active volcanoes, Io is the most geologically active object in the Solar System. This extreme geologic activity is the result of tidal heating from friction generated within Io's interior as it is pulled between Jupiter and the other Galilean satellites—Europa, Ganymede and Callisto. "
